Unbreakable Destiny
by Jdragonfire29
Summary: Takes place from end of How to Stop and Exploding Man.  Never liked how they made Peter and Claire related, so this is my way of rectifying that.
1. Chapter 1

**Unbreakable Destiny**

Claire ran up to her father and took the gun from his hand. "Peter!" Claire ran to Peter, his skin was glowing red. "Please...tell me there is another way!"

"There is no other way." Peter struggled, trying to calm back the power building in him. "Do it."

"No." Claire dropped the gun, clattering to the ground.

Peter backed away, his panic building. "Claire!"

She moved forward, wrapped her arms around his waist, her skin burning. "I am not going to kill you." Tears streaked her face, as she looked up at him.

"Claire, we don't have to time to argue about this." His voice a strained whisper, as his skin burned brighter. "Please..."

She shook her head, more tears falling as she squeezed him tighter. Claire's eyes widened and she instantly knew. "Take us out of here." Peter looked at her confused. "The middle of nowhere..."

Peter could smell her flesh burning and he wanted her to let go. He knew she wouldn't, her grip, even now, tightened on him. "I can't..."

"You can...the desert far from where we can hurt anyone." Peter closed his eyes. "We'll be alright." Claire looked briefly, over to her panic stricken father and gave him a brief smile, before they vanished.

Peter opened his eyes and felt relief. "We did it." His relief, quickly turned to panic when the realization that Claire was still with him. "Claire..." His voice cracked.

Claire was still holding him, even though she was in pain. She looked up at him. "Knew you could do it..." She gave him a half smile.

He felt a sharp pain shoot through him and he cried out. The glow from his body grew exponentially. "Claire!"

She rested her head on his chest. "I love you Peter."

His heart soared and he was unable to speak the words back to her, as his power took over and everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2

Silence and pain.

Pain was scorching through him. He tried to speak, but nothing came out. _'Claire!'_ He tried to look around, but his vision was completely blurred. He had no idea, how long he had lay there or how long since the explosion.

His vision finally cleared and all he could see was scorched desert in the dying light of sunset. He painfully sat up, scanning the area for any sign of her. He needed clothes and so would Claire, when he found her. After warring with himself, he transported to his apartment to get supplies. He quickly grabbed a duffle bag, filling it with clothes, water, food and money. Grabbing a flashlight from his kitchen and a blanket from his bedroom he returned to the desert to search for Claire.

"Claire?" He called out, hoping she would say something back. Peter was exhausted, but he refused to believe she was gone. _'I killed her.'_

The sand was scorched and cratered. Peter stood at its center, quickly pulling on clothes and trying to the decide which direction to start searching. "Losing light..." he mumbled in a panicked whisper. "CLAIRE!" He screamed, hoping she would yell out to him. He walked towards the setting sun, where he could make out a structure of rocks on the horizon. He reached them, just as the sun disappeared behind the horizon. Pulling the flashlight from his bag, he continued searching and a flash of something on the outer edge of the light stopped him. His eyes widened and he ran. "Claire?" Her body was charred, hair burnt almost completely away and her eyes blank. Peter's chest tightened, trying to keep calm. He slowly looked over her, to pinpoint why she wasn't regenerating. _'There!'_ He saw a rock protruding from her skull, grimacing, he gingerly pulled it out. The result was instantaneous; her muscles started to regenerate, followed by her skin and hair. She was laying with her back to him; her body shuddered as she gasped for air and sat up. "Claire... it's alright." His voice shook with relief.

She turned toward him and hugged him fiercely. "Peter...you're okay."

Peter laughed, his face burrowed into her hair. "Only you would worry about me at this moment."

Claire just held him tighter, she was rattled. Slowly, she realized that Peter's hands were on her bare back. "Um...Peter...am I naked?"

Peter blushed fiercely and stammered. "Yeah...well...clothes apparently aren't indestructible." He released her with one hand and pulled the blanket over, wrapping it around her. "Here." His voice husky. "You...uh...wrap that and I will grab you something."

Claire smiled into the blanket, completely loving his flustered reaction. "Always the gentleman." She paused and looked at him questioning. "How do we have a blanket and clothes?"

"When I didn't find you right away, I popped to my apartment to grab things for us." Peter kept his back to her, his eyes now closed, as he handed her a t-shirt and sweatpants.

She giggled, pulling them on. "You can look now."

Peter smiled, she swam in his clothes. Claire walked toward him, but her steps faltered. Peter quickly caught her. "Claire!" He pulled her toward him and could feel the heat from her. "You're burning up." She shivered.

Their options were limited, he had no id, just the cash he grabbed. He teleported them to a small hotel, just on the outskirts of Las Vegas, it was a cheap hotel but not somewhere people asked questions. He held her against him, bundled up, covering her face and paid for two nights. He carried her into the hotel room and gently sat her on the bed, locking up and closing the blinds. He sat on the bed beside her, bundling the blanket tight around her and cradled her in his arms. She slept, nuzzled against him as he kept watch over her through the night.


	3. Chapter 3

Morning came and Claire was still burning up. Peter was on the verge of teleporting them to Mohinder, when she opened her eyes.

"Hey..." Her voice barely a whisper.

Peter smiled. "Hey yourself...you were scaring me."

Claire was calm and she smiled at him. "I'm fine." Peter looked at her doubtful. "I think...I know what's wrong." Claire achingly moved out of Peter's embrace, pulling her hands out from the blanket. Just as her mother had done for her months before, she opened her hand concentrating and a flame appeared.

Peter's eyes widened. "Whoa...how?"

"My mother..." Claire stared at the flame in her hand and smiled, closing her hand extinguishing it. "Her ability is to create fire."

Peter was amazed. "How did you know?"

"Lucky guess..." Claire shrugged, feeling warm, she pulled the blanket off. "I can create a fire...because my mother can. Where did the regeneration come from? Nathan doesn't do that." Claire was rambling half to herself and half to Peter. "I don't think Nathan is my father." She looked at Peter, watching his reaction to her words. "I mean, wouldn't I have his ability?"

Peter felt his heart race at the implications of her words. He couldn't help but hope she was right, as he was already in love with her. "One way to find out..." Claire looked at him confused. "Mohinder Saresh. He can test our blood and see if were..."

"...related." Claire finished as he trailed off. "We can't be."

Peter smiled, reaching out, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Can't be or don't want to be."

"Don't want to be." Claire reached out, her hand caressing his face and she leaned in kissing him. She pulled away, looking in his eyes. "Does it matter?" Her voice wavering.

Peter's breath was ragged, as he stared into her pleading eyes. "No..." He immediately pulled her into another searing kiss.


End file.
